


Drive

by ohshanksno



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Luffy and Lawrence goes on a road trip, Luffy's Mum is named Tulia, M/M, Minor characters will appear, On Hiatus, all the tags will appear as I delve deeper into this story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-11 01:23:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12924306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohshanksno/pseuds/ohshanksno
Summary: “I asked you a question first!”The man hums. “And I answered.”“No you didn’t! You just asked me a question because I asked you a question!”A moment passes, and a hawk screeches in the sky.“...can I have a ride?”





	1. Prolouge

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is based off a song and I've had this idea for the longest time. Right now, I don't have all the tags up here, but as time goes on it will have all the appropriate tags it will be labelled with. Until then, enjoy!

Luffy’s humming along to his radio as he’s driving on the long stretch of dirt road. There’s nothing for miles other than distant mountains and he’s in the middle of nowhere, and he’s grateful that his radio still works instead of giving him static like it did one state ago. Sure, it’s playing some weird retro music, but it’s better than nothing.

Pebbles kick under the side of his dusty blue 1972 Chevy Custom 10 as he’s speeding, and he reaches over to turn up the radio just a bit louder. The windows are down, it’s humid with no clouds in the sky, and there’s dust flying everywhere with hot wind blowing at his face and brushing through his hair. His bag jumps in the passenger seat when he hits a small dip in the road, and his beloved hat flutters to the floor.

_Mr. Brightside_ comes on the radio, and suddenly Luffy’s screaming the lyrics at the top of his lungs. His throat hurts like hell and he’s thirsty since he ran out of water so long ago, but it doesn’t stop him from belting out the second part of the song.

Or almost hitting the guy that’s standing off to the side of the road.

At first, he blinked, thinking it was just his mind playing tricks on him. He’s been driving for the last 13 hours of his trip, and the third blink has him stomping on the brakes and the tires comes to a complete halt, car skidding against the gravel.

He’s screaming, face contorted into fear for the guy’s life. “Holy _fu_ \--”

The car stops right beside the guy and Luffy’s staring at the wheel as if it grew a face on it. His screaming gradually decreases in volume, until he goes quiet, and slowly turns his head to look out his window.

The man is tall, Luffy realizes, and had dark skin mixed with peach colored skin blotches. He’s sweating and his hair was everywhere and could really use a brushing, and wore double hooped earrings on both sides of his ears. He’s wearing jeans and a jacket, messenger bag slung over his shoulders, and a pair of converse caked with dust. He’s standing there casually, and Luffy looks up to his eyes; one gold and one brown.

A huge dirt cloud follows right behind him and breezes through, and some pebbles hit the trunk in backlash.

The man smiles then, and Luffy frowns in response.

“What the _fuck_ , man?” were the first words to come out his mouth. “You could’ve died!”

“But I didn’t?” the man replies cooly, hands sliding into his pockets.

Luffy’s eyes narrow in suspicion, and he turns down his radio to silent. “Who are you?” Luffy asks, tilting his head to the side. “And why are you standing in the middle of nowhere?”

“Why are  _you_ driving in the middle of nowhere?”

“I asked you a question first!”

The man hums. “And I answered.”

“No you didn’t! You just asked  _me_ a question because I asked  _you_ a question!”

A moment passes, and a hawk screeches in the sky.

“...can I have a ride?”

Luffy’s posture instantly relaxes at the question. “Oh, yeah, sure. The door’s open. Just be careful with my hat, okay?”

He walks around the front of the car and opens the passenger door. Luffy’s bookbag drops onto the ground on top of his shoes, and he stares at the bag.

“It seems your bag is dirty.”

Luffy shrugs, reaching across to grab his hat. “Eh. It’s seen worse things.”

His eyebrows raise in curiosity, and he bends forward to pick it up and hop into the car. He closes the door behind him, and turns to look at Luffy, bags in his lap. “And where exactly are you going?”

“Hmm?” Luffy scratches at his neck, and steps on the gas. The truck jerks a bit, and hums as he puts a bit more gas into it. “Ah, anywhere, really. I’m just going places here and there, is all.”

“So...a road trip?”

He smiles. “You can call it that!”

The man blinks, and turns to look outside the window.

“Anyways, what’s your name? My name’s Luffy!”

“Trafalgar.”

The younger man tries to pronounce it, practicing his syllables. “Trafa...Trout...Tree...Traffie?”

“No. It’s Trafalgar.”

“Twizzler!”

Trafalgar turns to face him with a murderous look. “ _Tra_ _falgar_.”

“Tootsie roll?”

His eyes narrow to thin lines. “Call me that one more time and your trip will end  _very_ quickly.”

The younger man laughs then, showing his teeth. “Traffie it is, then!”

“ _It’s_ **_Trafalgar_**!”

He waves the threat off. “Whatever!”

Luffy leans forward to turn up the radio, humid wind blowing into their hair as he speeds again. There’s a song he doesn’t recognize, but it sounds catchy, so he just bobbles his head to the sound.

Sudden realization hits him halfway through the song.

“You never answered my question, Traffie!”

Trafalgar looks at him for a long moment, disbelief showing in his eyes. “You’re just  _now_ realizing that?”


	2. Wishing Well

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been gone a long time  
> I kinda lost my way, can't find it  
> And I caught a short ride  
> To the grave and back this season
> 
> I can try to get by  
> But every time I start to panic  
> I’m a little bit shy  
> Bit strange and a little bit manic

It turns out that Trafalgar was stranded in the middle of New Mexico. He has no idea how he even gotten  _that_ far, but Luffy proves him a point by showing him a map from the armrest.

“Exactly where are we?” he asks, tilting the map in all directions. He’s a smart man, but he sure as hell wasn’t a map reader. Luffy turned down his radio, and he hums as he thinks of his answer.

“Ah, somewhere on Route 244, last I checked?”

He’s looking on the map, and his face is a little devoid of color. “Are you  _fucking_ me?”

Luffy makes a confused face, and glances at him from the side. “Uh, no?”

“We’re in the middle of a reservation. A Native American _reservation_. Doesn’t that spook you? We could’ve gotten _shot_ out here!”

“No? Because I just drove through it a while ago! We’re heading towards a major road in a little bit, and I’m getting hungry!”

Trafalgar’s not really listening to him because he’s seeing red, and he’s crumpling the map under his hands.

“You’re really lucky, Traffie, because you’d be walking for some time out there.” Luffy turns to face him, and he gives a smile. “What’s wrong with you?”

The man turns to face him, and gives a forced smile. “Nothing, Luffy. Nothing at all.”

“Okay!”

* * *

They end up at a small diner off some road that also goes on for miles, but it has telephone poles and lights strewn along the sides of it, so really, they won’t be traveling in pitch blackness. Trafalgar’s happy about that, because then at least he could get some cell service at some point during this...whatever this was.

There’s a waitress that comes up to them at the bar, and she gives a soft smile. “What can I get ya?” Her eyes linger too long on Trafalgar, and he hides a little under his jacket, hands reaching to his hood to pull up over his head.

“Oh, I’ll have your special, please!” Luffy exclaims, putting down his menu. He doesn’t notice that Law's getting uncomfortable with all the stares from the waitresses and the cook that's cooking from the window. “And two burgers with some fries!”

Trafalgar looks at him, and slides his menu to her cautiously. “I’ll just have a grilled cheese sandwich with a side of beans.”

“Ooo…that sounds really good!” Luffy thinks for a moment, and he nods enthusiastically. “...yeah, lemme have that, too, Miss!”

She smiles again as she writes down their orders, and leaves with a swish of her skirt.

“How are you going to pay for all of this?” he asks, and the young man looks up at him.

“Oh, I have some cash. It’s not much, but it’s enough for now until I find a side job for a day and move about my business. Like helping people with their flat tires, or helping people fix up their mom-and-pop stores. It’s a bit of money, and it pays pretty good!”

Trafalgar’s humming, and the waitress comes back with their drinks. A large coke, and one lemonade with no ice.

“Thank you,” they both say simultaneously, and sip at their drinks.

She looks at him again, and this time Law scowls, and her eyes widen and she skitters away to the back of the restaurant.

“Anyways, Traffie, where do you come from? I’m curious!”

“You’re really pissing me off with that name. I told you, it’s Trafalgar. If anyone can pronounce it, so can you.”

Luffy rolls his eyes, and sips at his coke. “I don’t care, man. A name’s a name. So, where are you from?”

“How would you feel,” Trafalgar starts, turning in his bar stool to face the shorter man, eyes alight with annoyance, “if I called you Loaf? Or Loofah bar?”

He giggles at the names, and he shrugs. “You got part of it right, so it doesn’t matter to me!”

“You’re fucking unbelieveable.” he mutters, sipping heavily at his lemonade.

“What was that?”

“I said you’re very interesting.”

“Oh? Thanks!”

He has to restrain himself from rolling his eyes.

“You know what? You can just call me Law. It’s short for Lawrence."

“Okay, Law!”

Law lets out a heavy breath, and a different waitress comes with three trays, food stacked on top of it. The burgers sizzle and the rest steam with freshness, and Luffy’s licking his lips hungrily as she sets everything down in front of them.

“Enjoy,” she says, and they both dig in.

“Yo’ st’ll h’vn’t an’wered m’ que’tion!” Luffy says after they started eating, mouth stuffed with hamburger and coke.

“Swallow your food or you’ll die.”

Luffy swallows and it disgusts Law at how ungodlike he swallowed. “I said, you still haven’t answered my question! Where are you from?”

“Oh.” Law turns back to his grilled cheese and takes a bit, and relishes at the warm gooey cheese they added. He chews on it for a moment, and when he swallows, he can’t help but let a satisfied groan escape from the back of his throat. “I’m from California.”

“Whoa-hoh! Cali?” Luffy exclaims, eyes going wide in amazement. “Is it really nice there?”

“It’s okay.” he says with a shrug. “Wildfires. Hollywood. Plastic surgeries. Blackmail. Some gay things. Beaches and competitions. Yeah, I guess you can call it nice.”

“Wow! I’d like to go! Let’s add that to our road trip list!”

“I don’t care.”

“Yes!”

They spend the rest of the time eating, and after Law finishes his sandwich, he turns again, enough to where only his gold eye is peeking from his hood.

“You never told me where you’re from.”

“Ah? Oh, I’m from Maryland, actually!”

Luffy burps and finishes the rest of his coke, and taps the par counter. “Bill, please!”

“Are you paying for this?”

“I doubt it. I can cover the tip, if anything?” he laughs nervously, and reaches in his pocket to pull out his wallet and pulled out a ten. “Yeah, the rest is for gas.”

“So you just assumed that I was going to cover for all of this?”

Luffy looks up at him, and he looks really nervous. “...y...yeah?” he says with uncertainty.

He’s grumbling and cursing under his breath, and reaches in his back pocket to pull out a hundred dollar bill, cursing even more when the bill came and their total was 54 bucks. He hands over the hundred to the waitress and snatches Luffy’s ten, shoving it into his other pocket. “You _owe_ me for this, Luffy.”

“Sorry,” he says meekly, and she comes back to hand Law the rest of his change.

They leave a ten dollar tip, and when they get in the car, it’s nearly sunset.

It looks like some Welcome To Night Vale shit is about to happen, the sky becoming purple with twinkling stars. There are no clouds and no moon, and the lights on the side of the road flicker on as the sun sets more.

Law’s in the driver seat now with Luffy in the passenger, holding all their stuff in his lap. He’s wearing his hat now, and he’s rolling down his window and getting settled in before he puts on his seatbelt.

“Where to, you tiny monkey?” he asks, putting on his seatbelt.

The shorter man giggles, and he turns to look at him with a bright smile. “Anywhere your heart desires, Law!” he says, putting his feet on the dashboard.

Another heavy breath escapes Trafalgar, and he starts the car. “You’re really un-fucking-believable, Luffy.”

Another giggle. “That’s a lovely compliment, coming from you!”

“Whatever,” he says, rolling out of the parking lot and onto the pavement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went to the wishing well  
> And sank to the ocean floor  
> Cut up by sharpened rocks  
> And washed up along the shore
> 
> I reached for a shooting star  
> It burned a hole through my hand  
> Made its way through my heart  
> Had fun in the promise land


End file.
